


The Other Colonel

by Splotcher



Category: The A-Team (2010), The A-Team (TV), The A-Team - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2014-01-30
Packaged: 2018-01-10 13:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1160143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Splotcher/pseuds/Splotcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A oneshot involving a movie version of Colonel Decker.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Colonel

**Author's Note:**

> I loved Colonel Decker in the TV show. Loved him. And was very disappointed when he didn't show up in the movie. Then I realized I could write.
> 
> A-Team is not mine.
> 
> Comment and criticisms are welcome.
> 
> \--Splotch

He doesn’t have the patience for this bureaucratic bullshit.

They drag him… _drag him _, from his engagement in South America with all of this talk about special skills and needing his expertise, don’t tell him a damn thing, and then tell him to sit and wait while the higher ups discussed what they were going to do with him.__

__Never mind the fact that what he’d been doing had been extremely damn important. They want those fields taken down without getting their fingers dirty, and right before he does, they drag him off. And knowing his luck, they’d decide they didn’t want him and he’d be blamed for not being on schedule with the op. It would be like Oslo all over again. Or Iraq._ _

__Political climates were a bitch._ _

__His face carefully betrays nothing as his foul temper begins to seethe. He’d been sitting in this hall, feigning boredom, for almost two hours. He’s jetlagged, he’s impatient, and he’s pissed as hell that he may have just lost any chance to finish the mission._ _

__A major steps out of the meeting room and beckons him in with a salute. He stands up, smoothes out an imagined wrinkle by habit, and smartly enters the room._ _

__He stops in front of a desk where a group of men waited- a two-star, and two three-star generals._ _

__“Colonel Decker, do you know why you have been summoned?”_ _

__“No, Sir.”_ _

__“You have an impressive military record, Colonel Decker. You were a fine troubleshooter in Iraq and various other missions. Missions only a few could have done. You have experience pulling off unorthodox maneuvers.”_ _

__“Am I to assume there is a point to this?” He drawled. “Sir.”_ _

__“Please remember who you are addressing, Colonel.” One of the three-stars glared._ _

__“I’m sorry sir.” ‘For wanting to know what the fuck you idiots were thinking.’_ _

__“No doubt you’ve heard about Hannibal Smith.”_ _

__“Yes sir.” Who hadn’t?_ _

__“He and his team have been making us look like incompetent jackasses for a full year now. It has to stop. The military doesn’t need this kind of publicity. We cannot allow fugitives to stay at large.”_ _

__He is of the opinion that they probably didn’t need Hannibal Smith to look like jackasses, but he doesn’t voice it._ _

__“What does that have to do with me, Sir?”_ _

__“We have decided its time to hand this problem off to a skilled soldier, one that can think out Smith’s plans and come up with a few of his own to put an end to this problem.”_ _

__“Am I to understand that you want me to catch the A-team? Sir?” He's a little incredulous._ _

__“Yes. And if you manage it, there is certain to be a promotion.”_ _

__Carrot. Right. Any possibility of furthering his rank had been left in Iraq a long time ago._ _

__“With all due respect, sir, it seems like the same things that made me persona non grata in the first place are what you want here.”_ _

__“I’m not saying-”_ _

__“I’m fairly sure we both know what you’re not saying. Sir. But you understand that if you want me to catch your problem children, I have to play by their rules. Which means there are none.”_ _

__“We don’t care. So long as the team is caught. We are tired of not having results. In this case, the ends justify the means.”_ _

__Do they really?_ _

__He’s played this game before._ _

__“The offer is on the table for exactly one minute, Colonel. Catch the A-team, we’ll put your career back on track.”_ _

__He briefly considers turning the generals down out of sheer cussedness. But there are other things to consider, things that would be made easier with his career back on track._ _

__“Very well. I’ll catch you your A-team.”_ _

__A large box is slid towards him. “These are their files. Included are all the last sightings.”_ _

__“I’ll need all of the sightings. You can’t make an accurate pattern without the whole picture. Sir.”_ _

__“We’ll get them for you. This is your top priority. All other missions have been suspended. Your mission in South America is being overseen by one of our top soldiers.” Translate: unlucky schmuck that pissed me off._ _

__“Catch these men, Colonel. We’re counting on you.”_ _

__He knows a threat when he sees it and snaps off a salute. He walks out, box in hand, still inwardly seething, but interest piqued. Catch some of the most decorated rangers the military has ever seen._ _

__He can do that._ _

__*^*^*^**^^*^*^*^*^**^*^_ _

__The young man they’ve been summoned by is extremely nervous. His eyes keep snapping between the Colonel and the bikers at the bar, looking at them with outright hostility._ _

__“Calm down son. Tell us more about your problem.”_ _

__“Well, like I told your guy at the café, my dad runs a little auto shop on Main street. Wally’s Motor and Lube. Anyway, we don’t make much, but we get a little and we’re sending my sister to college next year. She’s gonna be a doctor. She’s the first in our family to even finish high school. But there’s this guy, keeps coming around to make offers on the place, but we don’t want to sell. Then he started making threats and scaring away customers, and last week, the place got trashed. Cops won’t do anything about it. We even had him on tape, and the cops wouldn’t take it.”_ _

__“Sounds like he’s got the police in his pocket. Who is this guy? You got a name?” Hannibal took a drag on his cigar and tipped the ash into the tray. Across the room, Murdock and Face were hustling pool in the corner while BA was currently winning money off of arm wrestling with some of the bigger bikers._ _

__Phillipe Hernandez kept his eyes on Smith, determined not to make contact with the bikers starting to growl at the bar. “No.”_ _

__In reality, all the information the man can give him, he knows. He’s much more interested in how the young man reacts._ _

__They’ve been following along in this conflict for about a week, doing surveillance on this potential client._ _

__“We don’t come cheap.”_ _

__“I know. But we can’t live like this. We will give you everything we have.”_ _

__A warning bell got set off in his head. He cocked it at the young man. “Didn’t you say you want to send your sister to college?”_ _

__“Yes. But she agrees. And we can’t give up the shop.”_ _

__“Why not?”_ _

__“Because its our livelihood. We have to have it.”_ _

__“You can get other jobs. You were going to send you sister to school to be a doctor. That’s not cheap. And you said that you don’t make much from the shop. How were you going to send her?”_ _

__The young man falters. Hannibal is up out of his seat just as the bar doors bang open. “Boys! Let’s go!”_ _

__“Go where, Colonel Smith?” The rumbling drawl bring his attention back to the entryway._ _

__A colonel looks back at him, unemotional as the gun he has trained on him._ _

__“I don’t believe we’ve met.” He says as M.P.s enter the room, securing Face and Murdock with a struggle and surrounding B.A._ _

__“Colonel Roderick Decker. I’ve been sent to bring you in.”_ _

__“You must have been setting this up for awhile.”_ _

__“Months. Do you know how hard it is to convince requisitions to let me run an auto shop for that long?”_ _

__“No. But they get so upset over little things like that, I wouldn’t be surprised.”_ _

__A very slight upturn of a lip passes Decker’s face-the only indication the man might have a sense of humor-and it’s gone and Hannibal isn’t sure if that was a smirk or a sneer._ _

__He sees the young man stumble away from the table as M.P.s slap cuffs on his wrists. They smart, and not all of it is because of how hard they clipped._ _

__“Do you even have a sister?” he asks the young man. Phillipe, if that was his real name, grinned and shrugged._ _

__Damn._ _

__Decker favors him the young man with a steady stare. “Don’t look so pleased. You said you could think on your feet. I am not impressed. Take him into custody too.”_ _

__“But you said you would overlook the charges if I helped you!” The young man yelped as the M.P.s clapped hands on his shoulders._ _

__“I said I‘d overlook the charge of stealing a military police vehicle. I didn‘t say I‘d overlook the other charge.” Decker looks at the young man dispassionately. “I’m pretty sure Major Briggs would love to talk to you. Be glad I’m just handing you over to the regular police.”_ _

__“This is messed up. I thought we had a deal!”_ _

__Decker holds Hannibal’s gaze steadily as the M.P.s run the kid out. Hannibal is feeling a strong wave of dislike for the man, tempered by curiosity. It’s not often someone gets the drop on him._ _

__“Don’t worry Smith. You and your boys are going…a more military route. You should be right at home.” He glances to the M. P.s. “Take them in separate cars. I don’t want a repeat of the shipping yard incident.”_ _

__He nods to Hannibal. “Colonel Smith.”_ _

__The he turns and walks out. No preamble. No gloating._ _

__Damn._ _

__*^^*^**^*^*^*^**^_ _

__The car holding John Hannibal Smith is well thought out. The seat next to him is occupied by a stalwart M.P with a side arm pointed out one of his vital organs. In the front seat, another M.P has a gun trained on him, turned in the seat. The driver didn’t have a gun, instead totally focused on the road._ _

__Decker was smart enough to appreciate the ‘overkill is underrated’ rule. If he were moving a particular dangerous prisoner, like himself, he would have taken the same measures._ _

__But these measures were only good in the short term. Regardless of what the movies portray, men cannot hold guns indefinitely in a stationary position. Arms get tired. Minds wander._ _

__So that led to the question- was Decker stupid enough to have them drive for hours like this until they reached their destination, or would he be doing this because it was a short trip?_ _

__If it was a short trip, like he suspected, then that meant they’d have to stop somewhere. If Decker were an intelligent man, he’d make sure that all stops had countermeasures to deter any thought of escape._ _

__So if he were to escape, he must do it before they stopped._ _

__So he starts to talk. Rambling, mostly. Being around Murdock, the master of double talk and explanations that don’t actually explain anything gives him good inspiration._ _

__“Will you shut-up?!”_ _

__“Why? Gonna shoot me? Your boss might not like that. I don’t know what his orders are, but he probably wants us alive.” And he goes right back to what he’s doing. Pretty soon, somewhere around the fall of Carthage, the stalwart M.P. begins to lose his temper._ _

__“Look, he didn’t say anything about knocking you out.”_ _

__“Are you sure you want to make that executive decision?” He smiles patronizingly at the young man. It has the desired effect. The M.P. changes his position, intent on pistol whipping him for some peace and quiet._ _

__Like any good Fugitive hunter, Decker has ordered his prisoners to be cuffed in front. He quickly reaches up, grabs the M.P.s arm as he tries to take a swing, throwing him forward into the M.P. in the front seat. The one in the front seat lets out a strangled yelp as hard helmet hit cartilage. He takes the advantage of his long reach to slam the head of the first M.P. into the second, knocking them both unconscious. As the driver reaches for the radio, he quickly grabs one of the dropped SIGs._ _

__“Why don’t we just drive awhile?” He asks with a smile. The driver is not comforted by it…or the feel of cold steel._ _

__^*^*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*^*_ _

__He should have known something like this would happen. He thought he had a foolproof plan. One of the best in his career._ _

__Right up until the car holding Colonel Smith screamed out of the convoy, sped past them to the front, and decided to play chicken._ _

__With the entire damn convoy._ _

__In the resulting panic, two cars holding fugitives slid off the road, one into oncoming traffic, lightly clipped by a semi as it thundered past. One car, unable to keep control as two hummers slid back towards it, slid down a ditch and flipped. Damn. He should have picked a more populated route, then Smith might not have tried such a tactic._ _

__As it stands, the tactic is devastatingly effective. From an intellectual point, he wouldn’t have had near as much damage if the lead car had crashed head on, and he’d still be right side up in his car. After checking his driver, Captain Crane, he struggles out of the car._ _

__Just in time to see Smith pick up Peck and Murdock. Baracus was sitting in the driver’s seat of one of the hummers, yelling at them to hurry._ _

__He charges up the ditch, hand going to his gun. Some of the M. P.s that are up and lucid struggle to follow as he begins to aim for the tires. He takes out one before the hummer is screaming away._ _

__As is his career. He sighs, turns to the convoy. It’s destroyed. Some of the cars are still in working order, but there are injured men nursing cracked ribs, some with broken bones. No one is dead._ _

__With a flat tire, he could probably catch them. But he’d be going in with a force much smaller than he started with, and since dead or alive was not an option the generals had given him, with no real strategy._ _

__Damn again._ _

__He tells his soldiers to stand down. There will be other encounters. It will be harder now- once bitten, twice shy, as they say._ _

__But they haven’t seen the last of him._ _

__Not by a long shot._ _

__

__*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*^*^**^*^*^*^*^*^*^*_ _


End file.
